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Description
Unicorns have been something I've been wanting to explore for a long time, and I finally had the chance while preparing my Masters application. In my Modern Mythologies, Unicorns as a whole are derived from wild horses magically hybridized with traits from other ungulates, especially bovines, deer, and goats, which is how they are able to grow their iconic horns via a ruminant's digestive system.

Not every Unicorn looks exactly the same or has the same hybrid features, but I couldn't make art of them without first establishing the generic Unicorn derived from 12-16th century medieval literature and heraldry, which I named the 'Central European Unicorn'. I based its anatomy on a European Wild Horse combined with the morphology of an Elk and Ibex, which helped make it resemble a 'domestic' horse without it being one (I like their proportions more than that of wild equines). The result also ironically ended up with a small goatish-looking head that aligns with how it was first envisioned in the Physiologus. Although it originally has a lion-like tail in Heraldic art, I decided to instead give it the tail of an Auroch since it felt less paradoxical, as lions are frequently said to be their natural enemies.

I'm more than happy to answer any questions regarding what I learnt about these creatures. Aside from 15 other sources, a huge part of my research and understanding of them came from Odell Shepard's Lore of the Unicorn.

Description
Unicorns have been something I've been wanting to explore for a long time, and I finally had the chance while preparing my Masters application. In my Modern Mythologies, Unicorns as a whole are derived from wild horses magically hybridized with traits from other ungulates, especially bovines, deer, and goats, which is how they are able to grow their iconic horns via a ruminant's digestive system.

Not every Unicorn looks exactly the same or has the same hybrid features, but I couldn't make art of them without first establishing the generic Unicorn derived from 12-16th century medieval literature and heraldry, which I named the 'Central European Unicorn'. I based its anatomy on a European Wild Horse combined with the morphology of an Elk and Ibex, which helped make it resemble a 'domestic' horse without it being one (I like their proportions more than that of wild equines). The result also ironically ended up with a small goatish-looking head that aligns with how it was first envisioned in the Physiologus. Although it originally has a lion-like tail in Heraldic art, I decided to instead give it the tail of an Auroch since it felt less paradoxical, as lions are frequently said to be their natural enemies.

I'm more than happy to answer any questions regarding what I learnt about these creatures. Aside from 15 other sources, a huge part of my research and understanding of them came from Odell Shepard's Lore of the Unicorn.